Cherry Venture - QLD

This was the location of the beached wreck - Cherry Venture. The wreck was a 1600 tonne Singapore owned cargo ship grounded on 6th July, 1973 in heavy seas. It was bound for Brisbane from New Zealand and had 19 crew on board. After many attempts, it was unable to be pulled back out to sea and instead left as a landmark. The removal of the Cherry Venture was ordered by the State Government of Queensland due to advanced deterioration and the risk to public safety from exposed metal and asbestos. The works were carried out in February to March 2007, costing $600,000, and involved the removal of some 1250 cubic metres of material. Unfortunately, this was not the end of it. Although special equipment was used to sift rusted remains from beach sand around the site, deeply-buried remains of the keel proved impossible to remove at that time. With these leftover pieces too deep and therefore believed to be forever hidden, intense beach erosion has now resurfaced those pieces. A year later, and now a second attempt has been undertaken to make the area safe for people to pass by - especially at night.